Harry Potter and the Girl Who Must Live
by HannahReneeStar
Summary: PRE DH! My take on book seven...in third person, really. Harry and Ginny realize that they need each other, and for that reason Harry's going back to Hogawarts. MA rating, cause this is gonna get pretty mature in later chapters. HG RH, and others.
1. Chapter 1

A lone figure stood at the window of the Burrow, her face pressed against the glass so that her foundation would surely pull away with the suction as soon as she took her face away, but that didn't matter to her. She had to be the first to see him, she just had to. It had been all summer, and she had gone with only the picture that she had of the two of them in a frame by her bedside, back when they were together. In all truth he had broken up with her for Voldemort… yet that sounded a bit worse than the actual truth. He had broken up with her to protect her from Voldemort, which she knew was the hardest decision for him. His parents, gone. Sirius, gone. Voldemort, gone. And if it wasn't for his amazing courage, in her first year it would have been Ginny, gone.

And so young Ginevra Weasley had to see the face of her hero, although she didn't know what would happen when she did. He might have tried to erase her from his mind altogether, just to make things easier for the both of them. Well, what did she care? She was going to run headlong into those arms that whenever they had held her she had felt whole, those arms that told her that everything was going to be alright.

Was it love or infatuation, then that drove Ginny? Her vote was love, but others might have said a deep infatuation. True, it had been infatuation up until her fifth year, but after that Quidditch match, when they were finally together at last, it turned quickly to love. After all that Harry went through to only end up watching his mentor die that night and the killer get away, she had been the stability there, trying to keep everything normal although the world they knew was ripping apart around them. With that, it had become love, and after that it was he who had broken up with her to protect her from Voldemort, who had already used her once, and that was before he had even cared that much for her other than yet another big brother. Yet he had become hers, and although she was from the bottom of the social stack, a poor Weasley from her used robes to her fiery red hair, he hadn't cared, and in fact he had done all he could possibly do for her.

Bringing Ginny back to the world was a small 'pop' from behind her, which she assumed was Ron goofing off or the same action preformed by Fred or George, although she had thought that they were spending all day at the shop to make sure that they had enough money to get Bill and Fleur a nice wedding present, and by nice that probably meant dragon scale with those two prosperous idiots those days. Yet a hand on her shoulder told her otherwise, along with the voice that had filled her dreams that night…telling her that it would all be okay.

"Looking for someone?" Harry said, as Ginny turned around, bumping into him a little he was so close. Seeing his gorgeous emerald eyes staring into hers, she could barely breath, let alone speak. Her mouth barely open in amazement, she looked completely innocent, her red hair waving around her face today as though it was effortless, although it had taken about two hours with all sorts of products that George had given her for her birthday to get it to get any shape at all. That and the lime green ribbon that matched the skirt she was wearing, that and the sea green tank top that she was wearing with it, she looked like a green and red angel. Harry seemed to get the joy that was radiating with her as she stared up at him, because he bent down, pressing his lips gently to hers, waiting for a response, and then going on as they had that June before.

Yet it was Ginny who ended it, finally leaning back and pulling her tongue from his mouth, removing her lips from his. She looked up at him as though he had just committed treason, fear striking in her heart while at the same time joy tried to burst through at the thought of having him to herself again.

"What happened to not being able to stay together?" She asked, her voice wavering. She knew as well as he did that there was nothing Voldemort considered to immoral in the quest for Harry Potter, and that she would be his main card if he ever got his horrid long fingers on her. She saw his eyes dim, knowing what was going on inside his head, she leaned foreword and cooed in a hushed tone, knowing what this must be doing to his mind.

"Gin…I can't…I can't just stand there watching all that's going on and then see you by yourself because of my cause…although you may fall victim to my cause… Hermione and Ron… I feel so…Oh Ginny…" He said, looking to her for support. She knew this would happen, what with the two of them bandying it about as they did. No, it hadn't been wise for them to hide it in the first place, but now that they made it blatantly obvious it was clear that Harry would be third wheel to a couple that seemed to be one of the more sexual ones at Hogwarts. No, they weren't going crazy or anything, but Ginny had been subject to the unpleasant sounds coming from Ron's room during the day AND night, as well as a few instances in the new gazebo out back where she had walked in while someone wasn't wearing something. But poor Harry, if he already knew then it must be a terrible thing for him… and it was partially her fault.

"Come on, Harry, you have to live sometime! There's no purpose of your mother's sacrifice if you can't love, especially since her sacrifice was love!" She said in a half-whisper, pressing herself against him like she always had when she had wanted to prove a point, feeling the depth of his chest muscles up against her face, there to protect her, there to keep her safe…

"It's not that I can't love…it's that I just…Oh Ginny…" He said, his mind obviously going through great pain. His eyes screwed up in mental anguish he wrapped one arm around her waist, the other hand finding its way to the face that was resting on his shoulder, gently smoothing along its outer edge. "If I could do one thing in life I would chose to be able to be with you without you suffering because of those out to get me…" He said, his fingers finding the underside of her chin and lifting it up so that she would have to look at him. Her chocolate brown eyes finally fluttered up to his, and it seemed as though a new creation was born inside of them. She stood on tip-toe, bringing her lips to his and pressing them with her might, her arms wrapping around his neck, her tongue finding its way through his mouth. Harry bent down so that she was a bit more flatfooted and comfortable, digging his tongue through her mouth. It went on like this, hot and cold, for what seemed like an eternity until they finally broke apart, Harry pulling Ginny over to the threadbare couch beneath the other window, feeling a shoe pop him in the leg as she kicked off her heels as he continued to massage her mouth with his, putting her completely under him as he lay atop her, his hands rubbing up and down her arm. A crash from upstairs brought them out of their joy, making them sit up and Harry actually having to stand so as not to crush the fragile girl beneath him.

"My parents are home." She said, her eyes fixed on a certain fuzz ball in the sofa. Her hair was messed now; the family would obviously notice that something had gone amiss. About five minutes of silence later, footsteps approached, Harry sat down next to Ginny, who was trying with all her might to get her hair to look as normal as ever. Yet thankfully, it was bushy brown hair…more bushy than usual, actually, that approached, and with a rather sloppy attire on for that particular girl, too. She seemed to be barely put together, and with a sickening feeling Harry knew one possibility of what had caused that bump about five minutes ago…

"Oh, Harry, you're here!" Came Hermione's voice, her face a bit red as she tried to hide the fact that she was wearing only a bath robe over pajama pants and a pajama shirt… the bathrobe wasn't tied all the way so Ginny could tell that the pajama shirt that had earlier that day been on correctly was on backwards, and she completely screwed up her face at the revelation at what exactly Hermione had been doing.

"Yah, just got here a few minutes ago." He said, looking at Ginny awkwardly. She could tell exactly what he meant by that: were we they a couple or not? After a half-second of thinking fast, Ginny leaned foreword and kissed him on the cheek, Harry wrapping his arm around her in gratitude. Looking up, Ginny saw Hermione's eyes grow wide, her mouth drop, and through those eyes that had widened her mind racing.

"You…she…two…back…together?" She managed the grammatically atrocious sentence between a lot of mindless stuttering, her eyes blinking several times. "You two haven't been up to anything, have you?" She said bossily, striding down the stairs and pointing at Ginny's hair.

"Room for you to talk, at least we didn't do anything…" She muttered savagely, looking at Harry, who gave a rather stifled laugh. "No, Hermione. Now, if you don't mind, I need to fix my hair." She said, standing up and walking up the stairs, bumping into Hermione as she went.

"Damn… she's so perfect…" Harry muttered, watching her go. Hermione's look became a bit softer, and she went to sit next to him.

"Harry…with this you need to be really careful…what with Voldemort…" Hermione said, laying a hand on Harry's shoulder. Her eyes were sad, and looking into his with a point to make.

"Don't worry, Mione. She can take care of herself, and I'm not letting her get too far out of my watch." He said, getting ready to go move his bag to Ron's room at the top of the house.

"So you're going back to Hogwarts?" Hermione said, stunned. "Ron and I are following you anywhere… but Hogwarts or not?" She said, staring at him. Harry thought for a second, his hand running through the thick black hair that was on top of his head.

"Well…by the looks of where she's going, I'll say it's to Hogwarts we a go! Besides, where better to find horcruxes based around Hogwarts than Hogwarts itself?"


	2. Gazebos, Fights, And Head Boys

"Harry! Come on, mate, we've gotta get down to breakfast!" Came the familiar voice of Harry's best friend from above him, which would probably explain that horrible shaking that he had slept through for a while thinking that it was just a minor earthquake or something. Opening his eyes, Harry was scared out of his wits to see his best friend barely inches away from his face, his face possessed looking and his eyes on fire.

"Hell, Ron, what are you so excited about?" He said, pushing Ron back a bit and swinging his legs over the side of his bed, which exposed his Gryffindor boxers that he usually slept in. Reaching for his glasses, he put them on and studied the room that he was sitting in, as Ron's room looked much more different in the morning instead of in the night. The usual Chudley Cannons paraphernalia was hanging on the walls, yet now it seemed to have been much more clean and tidy…as though with a purpose of impressing someone. With a sickening feeling, Harry remembered who exactly it was supposed to be impressing… which was affirmed by the smiling pictures of Hermione on the walls.

"Well…erm… mate, it's the day when we should be getting our letters. And Mione says that you're planning on going back now, she wouldn't tell me why… but we've gotta get down there and see them!" He said, rambling through his sock drawer and pulling out a pair of rather wooly puckish orange ones, matching the Cannons shirt he was wearing.

"I've never seen you so excited about going back to school." Harry said smugly, making his way over to his trunk that was sitting underneath the window. He pulled out one of his favorite shirts, one featuring the Falmouth Falcons in gray and white. A rather nice pair of jeans came out as well, and Harry started to put them on as Ron tried to defend himself.

"Well…mate… I just like Hogwarts, that's all. And it's not like I was particularly excited about traipsing through the country looking for horcruxes…" Ron said, although Harry knew immediately what was going on inside his friend's head. _Get down there and see Hermione_. Harry knew that Ron didn't exactly care where the trio went, as long as they were all together, but it made sense to him that Ron would be trying to go see Hermione as quickly as possible. Coming out his hair and then ruffling it back up about five times, all Harry could think of was getting down there and giving Ginny a quick peck on the cheek, and maybe a bit more than that after they were away from her parents. Finally settling for having his hair only half-messed, Harry took his wand and quickly cleaned his teeth, making sure that his breath smelled as perfect as he could get it to.

"So the wedding's next week, huh?" Harry said, finally breaking the silence that had followed Ron's lie. Looking over at his friend, he saw that he was going crazy trying to summon some flowers out of his mother's garden, which was about a hundred feet below the window.

"Yeah, it's next Friday. You ready to be an usher, Harry?" He said, moving aside as Harry walked to the window. _Okay now, think. I've gotta do this in my head. Diffindo. Diffindo! DIFFINDO!" _He thought, trying to do as he had been told and perform the spell in his mind instead of out loud. Looking down, he saw that his spell had worked to some degree; the stalks of the flowers looked about half-severed. _DIFFINDO! DIFFINDO! DIFFINDO!_ He tried again, and finally they fell into a pile of roughly cut flowers. _Accio._ Up they came, about three feet that was, before they fell back down to the earth. _Accio flowers._ Five feet that time. _Accio flowers! Accio flowers! Accio flowers!_ Although he wanted to be able to do this with ease, it took great strength just to get the flowers to rise a mere halfway to the window where Harry was standing. _ACCIO FLOWERS! ACCIO FLOWERS! ACCIO FLOWERS!_ He thought, his mind straining so much that his face was purpling with the difficulty. Finally, his hand closed around a handful of lilies, the product of his great struggle. Handing them to Ron, he saw his friend's bewildered look.

"I didn't know that it was that hard to cut some flowers…sorry mate…" He said, pulling a blue ribbon off of his bedside table. Harry whipped the beads of sweat off of his forehead, looking strangely at the ribbon.

"I've gotta get to the point where I can do that sort of thing in my mind, as well as other hexes and curses. Why the hell do you have a hair ribbon?" He asked, his brow furrowing. Sure…from what Ginny had told him yesterday Ron and Hermione had been up here together for most of the summer, but Hermione wasn't exactly the type of girl who wore ribbons in her hair. Actually, Hermione wasn't the type of girl to wear anything in her hair, save maybe an elastic.

"It came off of one of the dresses mum made for Ginny. I've been tying them around flowers for Mione for a while now." He said, tying the ribbon into a rather lopsided bow. "Come on, we've gotta get down there." He said finally, leading Harry out the door.

"Hey, Hermy." Harry teased as the two finally got down to the ground floor of the Burrow, seeing Hermione yet no Ginny. Ron had his hand behind his back, shielding the flowers from Hermione's view, yet Hermione seemed to be expecting him to give it to her at any second. A scowl came across Hermione's face and she acted like she could have slapped him, watching as Ron doubled over in laughter.

"Well, I thank you, Messier Grawp. Only a complete idiot of a giant could come up with a name such as that for a girl. Good morning, Ronald." She said, smiling at him. Hermione was wearing a light blue top with a jean skirt, looking entirely different then the Hermione Harry had thought he had known. Then again, he was pretty sure that the Hermione he had known was a virgin, and that was the one thing different about Ron and Hermione now versus the end of the school year: they most obviously weren't. Trying to avoid any visuals, Harry went on with the conversation, deciding not to mull over it.

"Dang, Hermione, I thought that you would be protecting Grawp from the terrible injustice of the stereotype of being considered of less intelligence then promoting it…what ever happened to the Society for the Protection of Idiot Giants? Spig, Spug, and Spew need their leader…" He said, ducking as Hermione literally swung at him that time. Ron seemed to be noticing that Hermione was in less than a joking mood, because he pulled the flowers out from behind his back with a flourish, bowing to her.

"Good morning, Hermione m'love. How's my sweet girl this fine day?" He said, taking a step closer to her and handing her the flowers, giving her a quick kiss. Harry, now thoroughly disgusted at the sight of his two friends kissing, sidestepped to the right, making his way into the kitchen where Molly was standing, cooking the food.

"Hullo, Mrs. Weasley." Harry said, smiling at the sweet woman. She barely looked up from her cooking as she gave a pleasant smile, pointing with her spatula out the window where Ginny had stood waiting the day before.

"Good morning, Harry dear. Ginny's out in the garden, she said for me to send you out there when you come down, breakfast isn't going to be for a while. Run along now, she seemed rather excited that you see the new gazebo that Bill and Charlie put up for the wedding." She said merrily, and Harry didn't have to be told twice. Pulling open the old door and strolling down the walk, Harry looked around for some sign of a gazebo. Eventually spotting it over on the far side of the lawn, Harry cut through the tall grass for it, accidentally stepping on a gnome or two while he went. Apologizing as the little things cursed and squealed at him, Harry chuckled and walked on, finally reaching the woodwork gazebo. It was closed on the five sides facing the house, giving a great deal of privacy, and then as Harry walked around it he saw that on each side there were two panels of trellis like wood, and then the final panel of the gazebo was open so as to be the door. Walking through it, he made his way up the two steps to where Ginny was sitting on a wicker sofa, her feet tucked under her black mini skirt that Harry had no idea how Ginny had gotten past her parents in, as she was their only daughter after all. That and the fact that she was wearing a white spaghetti-strap shirt, he wondered how she had made it out of the house at all. Her hair was as straight as he had ever remembered it today, draping down elegantly and without anything holding it back.

"Hey, Harry. I see you made it past the love birds alright." She said, setting down the book that she had been reading. Harry took a quick glance at the cover, seeing the title _How to Be a Good Junior Bridesmaid_ he laughed, taking a step towards her.

"Worried about the big wedding, are we?" He asked, stopping two feet or so in front of the bench. She looked so pretty and innocent, her hair blowing a bit as a bit of wind came through the trellis sides of the gazebo. They were so alone…

"No, I'm afraid of Fleur's reaction if I mess one thing up. You saw those velas at the World Cup, they're not exactly the sweetest of beings." She said, her eyes looking up at his. Slowly but surely he took another step closer to her, now just barely away from those lips he wanted to posses.

"I'm sure you'll do fine. After all, you _are_ a very good girl, aren't you?" He said, bending down and kissing her lightly, just glad to be able to do so without the whole of the Weasley brother clan out to kill him. He felt her wrap her arms around him, bringing him down towards her, where he came into contact with the area of the sofa there beside her, feeling her press up against him. She was so close, their tongues were completely pressed together now that he had opened his mouth on her, it all seemed to blur together in his head. Slowly he wrapped an arm around her torso, pulling her tiny frame even closer to his as he stuck his hand under her shirt, feeling the soft skin underneath, hearing her gasp between kisses. Starting to work her shirt off slowly, he got as far as to right below her bra line before he heard two voices that he absolutely did not want to hear.

"WHAT THE HELL ARE YOU TWO DOING?" Came Ron's words, as Hermione half shrieked out of surprise. Harry bolted off of Ginny, sitting on the other side of the sofa with his hand over his face, wondering how they had been that careless. Ginny was pulling down her shirt, a look of pure fury on her face at her brother's hypocrisy. Hermione was clinging to Ron's arm, muttering something into his ear in an attempt to calm him down as he tried to charge at Harry, who was just about to die out of the pure embarrassment of the situation.

"We were, big brother, making out, and thank you very much." Ginny said as she stood up, red fury rushing onto her face as she glared at her brother. Harry took his hand off of his own features, watching as she started to yell at her brother. Here Ron cut in, his own face red as though he was going to kill Harry right then and there…

"You weren't just making out, you two were about to have sex, which would explain why your shirt was halfway up your front, little sister." He retorted, breaking free of Hermione's grasp. She ran after him, pleading that he was over reacting, and here Ron surprised him. Instead of going for Harry, Ron turned on Ginny.

"You are such a slut…why do you keep on being that way around my friends? First Dean, then Harry…"

"Well, if you paid any attention, Ron, you might have noticed that I was like that with Dean to get Harry's attention, as I told him early in the summer. And if you noticed anything more, you might not be so mad about the two of us having sex, seeing as you and Hermione are doing it at a level where it's three times a day, or are you so naïve that you don't even know where your own dick is going…" She said, and Harry watched Hermione gasp at what Ginny had said, which was something that made Ron stop and sputter right there.

"Well, we're…you're…y'all're…" He said, trying to get something out.

"Lemme guess, Ron. _I'm too young._" She said, just about to smack him then and there. Harry knew what was happening, and he exchanged a look with Hermione that said quite plainly _Here they go again._ Harry stood up and sidestepped past the rowing siblings, walking with Hermione who seemed to be as glad to get out of there as he was. Halfway up to the house, Hermione, her face bright pink, broke the silence.

"It's not that often, really it's not… Ginny's just exaggerating so as to make Ron see some sense. I don't think he had his head on straight, you two were fine in what you were doing… we were planning on having sex there, too… It's just because of the fact that it's his younger sister…" She said, pleading with him. Harry looked back at the gazebo from which he could still hear an occasional shout, but couldn't make out any of what they were saying, and turned back to Hermione.

"Yeah, well…let's not have the Weasley adults knowing any of this." He said plainly, finally reaching the house as they walked on. As soon as they made it up there they sat down on a half wall holding up one of Mrs. Weasley's gardens, staring down at the gazebo. Finally, two red topped figures made their way out of it, the one with the flowing hair before the one with just a hint of red compared to the first.

"Oh boy, here they are on their way…" Hermione said, looking rather anxious. Harry watched the figures make their way closer and closer, obviously not saying anything to each other. Finally, as Ginny disappeared behind the last of the hills leading up to where they were sitting just outside of the house, Harry stood up to greet her. Hermione did the same for Ron, and the two made their way to their particular love interest hastily, each kissing their own before turning to glare at each other.

"I'm sorry, Harry. Let's go inside before Ron decides that we're standing too close to each…" She started, not finishing because of a line of four owls shooting past them into the kitchen window. Instantly, all the drama of earlier faded quickly in their heads as they ran inside after the letters, the thoughts of head boy and girl floating into their brains.

Yet it wasn't head boy/girl that came to the forefront first, instead it was what fell out of Ginny's envelope that made the quartet gawk in awe. Harry stared at her as she read the note attached to the shiny badge, unbelievingness spreading on her face the entire while.

"Dear Miss Weasley, I am pleased to inform you that in light of the female Gryffindor Prefect leaving Hogwarts this past year early due to the situation of the war around us that you have been selected as Gryffindor Prefect. Because of this…" Ginny's voice trailed off, her eyes growing wider than ever. "MUM, DAD, I'M A PREFECT!" She yelled, trying to get the point across to them that she expected something just as good as what Ron had gotten when he had become a prefect, only better. Molly, who was still over by the stove, came shuffling over, while Arthur ran out of the bathroom, his face only half shaved, to see what his daughter clasped in her hands. As they praised her ceaselessly, Harry, Hermione, and Ron opened their envelopes, unknowing what they would find there. Hermione slid her contents out first, a look of sheer disappointment crossing her face as all that came out was her school list, her letter, and a note about her prefect duties. Ron did the same, the results yielding the exact same as those that Hermione had gotten. Last to slide their contents out was Harry, who instead of just the Quidditch captain badge that he was sure he would be getting back that year had two badges, one with the letters "HB" printed on it. He grew silent, suddenly from his laughter at what Ginny was saying about snogging prefects and stared at this new badge, his eyes growing wide.

"What's wrong, Harry?" Ginny said, leaning forewords to see what was sitting on the table in front of him. "Oh, Harry! Oh my, oh my, oh my, Harry! You got it!" Ginny said, kissing him quickly on the cheek. "Mum, dad, look…Harry's head boy! Oh, Harry!" She said, flinging her arms around him as he sat there. "McGonagall must have known that you would come back…oh Harry!" She said quickly, as Ron and Hermione leaned over to see the badge in front of him.

"Good one, mate. You deserve it more than anyone." Ron said, Hermione rambling on the same as Ginny. Harry still couldn't move, the fact that in front of him was a badge denoting the same honor that his father had received was sitting in front of him, meant for him, waiting for him to put it on his shirt.

"Oh, we'll have to go get these from Diagon soon; everyone will be clearing these lists out quick! Flourish and Blotts didn't order a lot of books this year since they didn't expect a lot of students to return to school if there's not Dumbledore, so we better do it today. Ron, Ginny, could you bear to ask your brothers for money? I'd like to get Ginny and Harry something nice for what they've gotten. She said, obviously thinking of what she could get the pair.

"Oh, Mrs. Weasley, you don't have to get anything for me, honest you don't." Harry said quickly, falling out of his silence at the thought of her buying him anything. It wasn't just that he didn't want her spending money on him, it was also the fact that he really didn't need anything, especially if he was going to leave school in the middle of the year to hunt Horcruxes. "Or at least let me pay for Ron and Ginny, I've got the money to do that." He said, and he could tell that her nod was reluctant.

"Alright, you can pay for them, but you two don't ask for anything expensive, Harry you are so sweet!" She said, hugging him from behind. "We'll go to Diagon first thing after breakfast, and then tonight I'll invite the Order over and we'll have a party. Now, who wants breakfast?" She said, bustling back to the stove while Harry gave Ginny a secretive wink.


	3. Diagon Alley

**Author's Note: Sorry it's been so long! I've been so busy, and I've also started another story, which is post Deathly Hallows (DH). This one, however, is still going to be pre-DH and going along with my original ideas… so I'm going to attempt to stay clear of any spoilers! So read and enjoy, not mentioning review! Oh, and thanks for the reviews already! So…I'll dedicate this chapter to those who have already decided that they like**

Once in the Leaky Cauldron, the group of six split up, much to Mrs. Weasley's distaste. Arthur, who had an Order meeting with Remus, held back at the bar. Mrs. Weasley (after badgering at Ginny to keep with Harry, Ron, or Hermione at all times so that she was with someone of age) ran off in the direction of Gringotts first to see Bill. Hermione and Ron headed to the quill shop, and Harry and Ginny made their way down the street just taking in the sites. It was even more dismal than last year, what with even more escaped wizards and witches leering at them from their photographs, and fewer people in the streets. Being out in public, Harry refrained from holding her hand in the style Ron and Hermione were.

"So…where to first?" He asked her, stopping in front of the boarded up face of the old ice cream shop where Harry had many happy memories of doing homework while eating free ice cream.

"Well… I need new robes… the second hand shop's down that way." She said, pointing to her left. Harry pretended to look, and then he shook his head. Ginny gave him a strange look, and Harry felt overjoyed at his position. This was his chance to do something for Ginny, something that no one had ever done for her.

"That's not where you're getting your robes. You'll be getting yours right over there." He said, pointing at Madam Malkin's. To his delight, Ginny's jaw dropped in surprise, but it was more than he could ask for that she wouldn't shake her head. He leaned back and crossed his arms at her.

"Harry…I can't! It's more enough that you're buying my stuff in the first place, you don't need to buy me anything expensive!" She said, tilting her head, her red hair flowing out behind her. Mrs. Weasley had made Ginny change clothes before going out in public, so that now she was wearing jeans and one of Ron's older Chudley Cannon's shirts. Harry noticed that the shirt was extremely tight on her, but he guessed that that was intentional.

"Oh no. You're not getting off that easy. I'm doing something nice for my girl, and my best mate if I can catch him before he heads into the second hand shop. You're not getting anything second hand today, Miss Weasley." He said jokingly, and watched Ginny's expression soften.

"Oh…if you must…but I'm not…." She said, a little pink in the face. Under any other circumstances Harry would have kissed her, but he decided against it because of their unspoken decision to hide any signs of romance from the outside world. Harry caught Ginny's eyes, and saw that she seconded his thoughts.

"Come on, Madam Malkin's. Oh, look… Ron's heading in there with Hermione. Excellent." He said, leading her to the shop before there could be any attempt at bridging that particular topic. The bell tinkled overhead as they walked into the shop, and he heard Ron's voice saying "Oh no, just her, I won't be buying here today," his ears red.

"Oh yes you are. Get on a stool, mate. I'm buying your stuff, and I'm not buying you anything second hand." Harry said, and watched as Ron jumped and turned around, his face and ears redder than ever.

"Oh no, you don't have to…" he started, but Harry shook his head.

"Losing battle, mate. Ask Ginny." He said, and looked at the fully scarlet figure at his side. Ron gave a sheepish smile of gratitude and stood on the stool Madam Malkin was pointing at, smiling at Harry.

"Hello dears, you two as well, I'm guessing?" She said, pulling up two more stools. Harry and Ginny both stood up on the stools, and Harry amused himself at watching Ron and Ginny being measured for new robes for the first time. Ron's expression at the movements of the tape measure while Hermione was being pinned up was comical, and Harry didn't bother to refrain from laughing. Ginny blushed brighter than ever when Harry informed Madam Malkin that Ginny would also be needing new dress robes. When they were all done Harry paid out of the money Bill had sent him out of his Gringotts vault, and the quartet headed on to Flourish and Blotts.

"At least buy me second hand books, Harry… I can't let you spend that much money on me!" Ginny was saying as they walked, but Harry only shook his head and kept on walking. Ron was still issuing thanks as they stepped inside the bookstore, but that all stopped when they saw the sight inside. Crabbe and Goyle were standing threateningly in front of a knot of Slytherins looking over in the Dark Arts section. From his vantage point, Harry could recognize among them Theodore Nott, Blaise Zabini, and Pansy Parkinson. There were also three others to whom Harry could assign no names, but had seen them before. Draco Malfoy, it appeared, was still missing from the public eye, and Harry didn't know whether to think him dead or alive.

"Oh look, it's the Potter club. And Granger's holding hands with Weasley…hey Granger, attempting to step up socially? Blood-traitors aren't that high off Mudbloods, you'll have to try harder than that!" Came Parkinson's sneering voice, and Harry turned just in time to help Hermione in grabbing at the back of Ron's shirt before he could charge at the Slytherins.

"Fuck off, Parkinson. At least Hermione's face doesn't look like she ran into a window thinking that she could get inside." Came Ginny's voice from Harry's right, and Harry had a bad feeling about where this was going.

"Oooh… Ginny's mouthing off. Feeling pretty high and mighty now that you're dating the Boy who Lived, aren't you, Weasley?" Came the voice of one of the girls Harry didn't know. She was blonde with blue eyes and an extremely haughty look on her face.

"We're not dating anymore, Star." Ginny retorted.

"Ooh, decided he didn't need another fan, did he? '_His eyes are as green as a fresh,'" _she started, but couldn't finish as Ginny swiftly swiped out her wand and cast a bat bogey hex on the girl whom she had called Star, her own face a bit pink at what the girl had taunted her with.

"Say it again, Benson. I dare you." Ginny bit out, a look on her face that Harry had only seen used on Ron when he forbid Ginny from something or other. Harry saw Nott pull out his wand as well, and before the hex was out of his mouth, Harry had pulled up a shield charm in front of Ginny. The spell ricocheted off of the shield and hit a nearby bookshelf, causing the books on the shelf to become wobbly and flop down on the Slytherins. This attracted the attention of most of the people in the shop, and Harry regretted coming inside in the first place.

Luckily, before the wizard at the check out counter made his way over to where the group was standing, another face emerged from behind. It was roughly scarred, and one eyeball was large and spinning around wildly. "Hey, Mad-eye," Harry said before the man had time to speak. "I guessed it would be you tailing us."

"Right you are, Potter. Bad idea, reacting to this bunch, Miss Weasley." Mad-eye Moody said. He then turned his attention to the clerk who had stopped at the sight of the famous auror.

"This lot'll be needing three sets of seventh year books and one set of sixth year. Here, they'll give you their booklists." He said, and the four gave their lists to the clerk. He bowed awkwardly, and went to go get their books. The Slytherins quickly made their way out of the shop, and Harry turned back to Ginny. She was still beat red and avoiding his eyes.

"You know I don't care about all that stuff from when we were in our first few years, right?" He said. It truly was an uncomfortable topic, Ginny's former infatuation. She nodded shyly, glancing up to meet his eyes. Harry longed to kiss her, or give her hand a little squeeze, or even hug her. But, they were in public. He just couldn't. So he gave her forearm a quick squeeze and went to go wait on the clerk. When they all had their books and Harry had paid for his, Ron's, and Ginny's, they headed out and finished their school shopping. They were about to go meet Mr. and Mrs. Weasley at the Leaky Cauldron when Harry remembered something.

"I need to go somewhere… Ron, why don't you go with me?" He said pointedly. Ron, albeit confused, followed. Hermione and Ginny decided to wait for them next to Gringotts. Harry led Ron up the street and into a jewelry store.

"Oi, mate, why are we in here?" Ron asked, pointing at the shelves of jewelry.

"Your sister just turned sixteen a few days ago." Harry said, looking around.

"And?" Ron said, obviously at a loss.

"I want to get her something nice for her. She sent me a Falmouth book for my seventeenth, I need to get her something. What in here will she like?" He asked. Ron looked dumbfounded.

"She sent you a book? She's been around Hermione too much. I dunno, mate. She likes green…thinks it goes well with her hair. So maybe emeralds?" He said, scratching his head. Obviously, Harry buying jewelry for Ginny was beyond him.

"Emeralds? That's a start." Harry said, and looked around for anything with emeralds. Then he saw it: an emerald hair clip in the shape of a bow, set in gold. Harry bought it from the witch at the counter, and they headed on their way, the clip in Harry's pocket. As they met up with the girls Harry smiled, but didn't say anything. This particular gift wasn't going to be given until they got back to the burrow.


End file.
